A grieving father buries his 6-year-old after a land mine kills 3 children in Syria’s Idlib

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — Idris al-Ridah cried as he carried the lifeless body of his 6-year-old son Amir, wrapped in a yellow-brown blanket, northwestern Syria.

While burying his son, the father collapsed and his little body was buried in a grave with his siblings Aya al-Fankih (4) and Rayan al-Fankih (6).

Three children died on Thursday when a mine from the Syrian war exploded while they were playing near a well in the rural village of Abu Habbah in northwestern Idlib.

The deaths were the latest reminder of the dangers posed by unexploded war remnants scattered across the country years after the conflict began.

Mines and booby The traps have killed and maimed hundreds of Syrians since the conflict in Syria began in March 2011; That left about half a million people dead.

Syrian Civil Defense said that four children near the well were also injured in the explosion.

Mahmoud al-Aleiwi, a resident of the neighborhood, said: “We heard a very loud explosion next to our house.” “When we arrived at the area, many children’s bodies were thrown around the well,” he added.

He said one of the children was thrown 300 meters (984 feet) away by the explosion and was found on the roof of a house.

At a nearby hospital, injured children cried as family members tended to them. One child had shrapnel wounds on his face and body, his legs were wrapped in bandages. Another was lying in bed with blood visible through bandages wrapped around his head.

Ten-year-old Ibrahim al-Suwadi was injured in a separate explosion caused by unexploded ordnance at a damaged school in the town of Al-Habit in the southern countryside of Idlib last month.

Sitting next to his father at home, al-Suwadi told how he was playing with his friends at school when he entered a room and found the mine.

“The two brothers picked him up and took him to the bathroom,” the child said. “We thought it was an exploded mine and started throwing stones. Suddenly, a boy older than me grabbed my hand and we ran. The mine exploded, I lost consciousness, I don’t remember anything.”

His father said the family fled their village during conflict in 2013 and lived in displacement camps for years before returning later. The fall of Bashar Assad government in December 2024.

Humanitarian organizations say unexploded ordnance remains one of the deadliest legacies of the Syrian war.

“Syria has been among the most polluted countries worldwide in recent years,” said Jakub Valenta, head of humanitarian disarmament and peacebuilding in Syria for the Danish Refugee Council. He added that according to United Nations data, approximately 14.3 million people in the country are at risk of explosive ammunition.

Valenta said explosion hazards include anti-personnel mines, anti-tank mines and other unexploded devices left behind in residential and agricultural areas.

“We estimate that approximately 1,200 people, and possibly more, are directly affected by explosive ordnance accidents,” he said. “Of these 1,200 people, approximately 740 were fatally missing. The vast majority of these people are men and children.”

According to the Danish Refugee Council, approximately 60% of contaminated areas in Syria consist of agricultural land, complicating efforts for displaced families to return to their homes and rebuild their livelihoods.

Earlier this month in Kisweh, a southern suburb of Damascus, Syrian trainees working with Danish Refugee Council teams carefully removed and destroyed unexploded ordnance during training exercises aimed at increasing local demining capacity.

The organization said it was recruiting and training new Syrian explosive ordnance disposal teams to help clean up contaminated areas and educate communities about the risks.

“The death toll in terms of explosive accidents and victims is among the highest worldwide,” Valenta said.

“These people suffer physical injuries throughout their lives, such as losing a limb or their vision, and experience mental health issues,” he said. “These people are also losing their jobs and livelihoods.”

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Harb reported from Beirut